French Language Lead (Francophone Africa)
The mission of Translators without Borders is to provide people with access to vital knowledge in their language. We do this by building language technology, increasing language translation capacity at a local level, providing language and simplification services that are culturally appropriate, accessible and open source, and raising awareness globally of language barriers.
Contract length: six months, with possibility for extension
Hours: Full-time
Location: home-based
Travel: none
Reporting to: LS Coordinator - DRC
Deadline for application : 19 August 2020
About Translators without Borders
Translators without Borders (TWB) envisions a world where knowledge knows no language barriers. TWB believes that everyone has the right to give and receive information in a language and format they understand. We work with nonprofit partners and a global community of language professionals to build local language translation capacity and raise awareness of language barriers.
TWB translates millions of words of life-saving and life-changing information every year. French is a key language for TWB for our programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo and our ability to respond to language challenges in Francophone Africa. We are looking for an exceptional French Language Lead (Francophone Africa) to help manage our community of French language volunteers, oversee overall translation quality and provide rapid translations of TWB organisational content as well as content for our humanitarian partners.
The role
The French Language Lead (Francophone Africa) will be enthusiastic about the importance of increasing access to knowledge through language. We are looking for a flexible and energetic team player who agrees with TWB’s Core Values and can work virtually to collaborate with team members and volunteer translators based around the world. The Language Lead will ensure timely and quality delivery of all translation requests. This will involve managing translation requests through TWB’s translation tools, facilitating the work of the TWB community, and actively supporting TWB’s recruitment and retention efforts to ensure the pool of translators is sufficient and that they remain engaged. The Language Lead will report to the Language Services Coordinator for DRC and work in close cooperation with TWB’s Language Services Team.
Responsibilities
- Working with the Language Service Coordinator - DRC to ensure the timely delivery of high-quality, linguistically accurate and culturally appropriate French translations for the DRC country program.
- Overseeing the translation process for incoming requests for French translations to ensure the timely delivery of high-quality translations; with special attention to promoting and using plain French that is accessible to the most number of people
- Collaborating on voice data projects, including providing and coordinating voice recordings;
- Developing and defining terminology databases and style guides in French;
- Helping build translation communities of volunteers, who actively engage in delivering TWB’s language support services;
- Understanding the volunteer community, their goals and needs, to support the Community Management Team to improve engagement;
- Assessing and evaluating the translation competencies of French translators;
- Onboarding new French translators, providing training on the global TWB translation platform;
- Evaluating and documenting translation quality and providing constructive feedback to community members;
- Collaborating with the other Language Leads and the Language Services Team;
Overseeing the quality of TWB’s translations into French including following TWB’s quality assurance procedures;
Contributing to and/or writing language factsheets, drafting guidelines and tutorials.
Please note that this role and responsibilities may evolve over time.
Qualifications and requirements
The Language Lead should be a creative self-starter with a strong sense of initiative and enthusiastic about the importance of increasing access to knowledge through language. The right candidate is an energetic team player who agrees with TWB´s Core Values and can work virtually to collaborate with team members based around the world.
- Native-level fluency in French
- 5+ years of experience as a professional translator (preferably experienced in humanitarian/medical/health translations and terminology)
- Proven track record in writing or translating content specifically for French-speaking populations in West and Central Africa and DRC in particular
- Track record of working with small teams and/or volunteers
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both oral and written
- Able to work under pressure against the clock and find creative solutions
- Willing to explore new technologies
- Excellent proficiency in written and spoken English
- Excellent presentation skills
- Good understanding of language technology and familiarity with Translation Memory (CAT) tools, Terminology Tools and QA Tools (knowledge of MateCat is considered a plus)
- Awareness and interest in Machine Translation (post-editing experience and/or qualification is considered a plus)
- Knowledge and experience of Quality Assurance procedures for translation
Core Values
Translators without Borders’ employees and volunteers are people who believe passionately about the value of this work and take personal responsibility for achieving the mission. Translators without Borders’ mission and organizational spirit embody the core values established in its strategic framework:
Excellence: As the leading voice for communicating humanitarian information in the right language, Translators without Borders is a leader in the translation industry and in the non-profit sector.
Integrity: Translators without Borders believes that every person, whether it is the people who we serve, our volunteers or our staff, has value, deserves respect and has inherent dignity.
Empowerment: Translators without Borders believes in using language to empower people around the world to control their own development and destiny.
Innovation: Translators without Borders recognizes and celebrates the power of innovation to address humanitarian and crisis issues around the world.
Sustainability: Translators without Borders recognizes that meeting our mission necessitates establishment and maintenance of a solid financial and organizational infrastructure.
Tolerance: Our staff and volunteers are highly knowledgeable and skilled; value each other, our partner and our recipients; create a supportive work environment; and, conduct themselves professionally at all times.
Translators without Borders is an equal-opportunity employer, committed to diversity and inclusion, and encourages qualified candidates of all genders and from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.